Kwara results contradict people’s wish — Omotosho

The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Dr. Mike Omotosho, in this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU shares his experience of the elections. -What is your assessment of the governorship election in Kwara State?- The event that shook us to the foundation of our trust on the election day gave a whole new experience on how dirty the game could be. We were turned to the wall for political execution by dark minds whose conscience had gone ahead of them to the grave. They plotted our agents out and it was too late for us when the reality dawn on us. Aside from the sad experience and the eventual ridiculous allocation of votes, the process remained fairly commendable; it is a better foundation to build upon. -Do you agree that the last governorship election in Kwara State was free and fair?- No, it was not. What happened in Kwara during the election could not and will never be the true reflection of our strength and acceptance. We have said that clearly and everyone knows. Even the perpetrators of the inglorious wickedness against us knew. That was why they went that far to cut us from truly earning the votes of the good people of our dear state. In all, we ran a good race with our pride intact. -What are the lessons you have learnt from the election and campaigns?- First, from the campaign; politics can be compared to our local white pap. It will always change to the colour of whatever substance you add to it. We came into the game and changed the way campaign was being run. Whatever character that is active in politics in a particular space determines the shape of the game. A violent person will always turn the game violent. We brought lots of new approaches into the game and others were following suit with shocking competition. Good for the game, no doubt. My take-away lesson is the furtherance of my belief that you can cause a positive change to happen in whatever sphere. The second is about the elction. Now, I somehow believe more the words of Albert Einstein that politics is far more complicated than physics. It is no way an exact science. Mencken said “A good politician is quite as unpredictable as an honest burglar”. If that statement is true then I will rather be a good leader than a good politician. But we shall change this unholy direction through good leadership in whatever space we find ourselves. The political battle field is liken to the courts of kings that are full of people but empty of friends. I am in no way ruffled, I have seen the suffering of the people and I am prepared to do more with all my ability to help. We have run the Mike Omotosho Foundation for years and I have again directed our foundation officials to redesign our intervention programmes to extend to several other areas of the needs of our people. While we continue to do more in our private capacity through the Mike Omotosho Foundation, it is obvious that our government needs to be more responsive to the people; the poor condition at the grassroots is ignoble. -Are you saying that the Kwara of today is not your dream state?- Obviously, yes. Are you not saying the obvious? Look, we went round the state, ward to ward, community to community and the cry is same: “We are suffering, please help us”. Some of your colleagues went round with us, the despicable situations are documented, it’s appalling, it’s unacceptable, and it must change. How do I call the prevailing unemployment my dream for our state? Is it the near total collapse of infrastructure across the state? Or the helplessness of the people who have been cut off from government presence? Excuse me please, this has nothing to do with politics, it is about concern for the people. We must look beyond politics and undue appetite for power; we must begin with the right empathy for the people. I don’t know how individuals can be so callous enough to have the effrontery to take advantage of the helplessness of the downtrodden by subjecting them to more hardship. For God’s sake, let us develop the land and the people with the money meant for them in the first instance. We won’t take a dime from the earth when we eventually finish our journey here. What you do while you are here will either speak for you or against you. Today people are beating their chest for the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd)for what he has been able to do in time past. We must be able to stand above board as leaders. The time has come for the nation to search tirelessly for capable hands that can rescue us from the doldrums of poverty, leadership failure, value decay and several other vices that once uphold the giant in us as a nation. Nigeria must take her rightful place in the committee of nations. We have what it takes to be among the best. We wanted to prove that with our state here. We have our well spelt out plans to create 250,000 jobs in 18 months. We brought in engineers who carefully went round the state to study the water problem and came up with tested solutions. I paid them for their expertise. Other candidates were running away from facing us in open debates, they have seen our manifestoes. -In all of these, what do you suggest should be done since you did not get the people’s mandate to implement your programmes?- First, leaders must show empathy to the people. We must look beyond our pockets and focus on the people. I pray the much talk about fight against corruption can take deeper roots to the nooks and crannies of this country. I believe we need to kill corruption in governance so corruption will not kill us. More importantly, we must give thinkers the chance to engineer policies and initiatives that are low in cost but far reaching in impacts. When I promise to donate salaries and emoluments as part of the fund for social security, it came from my passion to put smiles on the faces of the people. Leaders must be passionate about the people we lead. In all of these, we must have the desired will to truly serve with honesty of purpose. I think it is not about picking the hammer to start nailing people, it should be more of picking the shovel to work. -What next for you? Are you preparing to run again in four years?- Perhaps I should let you know this, for me, it is never about power but platform to offer help to the people. Right now, we have a more credible platform that has nothing to do with all the intrigues of politicking. I am open to whatever will advance the course of the masses. I have spent the last few days gearing up for the challenge. For example, we have just finished training our presidents across the 23 states on how to manage and attract more funds. We have access to over $8bn. We need to improve our capacity to access more. I believe it is a veritable platform to again show the capacity Almighty God has given us. We have done it before. I became the Governor of Toastmasters for district 94 covering all of West Africa and we won a worldwide accolade in just one year. I was recognized as the best Governor not just in Africa but in the world in 2013-14. God has again given us the opportunity to serve and I have no doubt that we shall raise the bar by giving it our best shot. Perhaps we can say that any avenue for true service is always welcome. That is the hallmark of my passion. Kindly ensure you monitor our progress as we contribute our quota for the benefit of humanity. Politics is a means for service, not an end for me. Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living. It is when we forget ourselves that we do things that will be remembered. Someone said the road to daily happiness is not hard to find; it is what we do for others that brings us peace of mind. Our sincerity will give wings to our will. We are not asking for a lighter load but a stronger back. We need the support of all and sundry. Individuals play the game, but teams win championships.